Vaako's Downfall
by LoverGirlOfAll
Summary: A girl is found outside a ship on Helion Prime. No one but the girl knows where she came from, or why she's there. What will happen when she meets the new Lord Marshal? Post CoR


**Dedicated to: Vin Diesel, who brought Riddick to life and helped me to believe in monsters, and that not all of them are bad. Not truly.  
I'm sorry if Riddick is a bit OOC.**

Chapter 1

"Milord, there is a woman here. She just appeared out of nowhere. We suspect her to be an elemental."  
"Bring her to me." The man kneeling at the foot of the throne nods, and walks to where the guards are holding me by my arms, dragging me to the throne by my hair.  
"We'll, let's see how The Lord Marshal wants you dealt with," he grins as he throws me to the floor at the foot of the throne. I land on my right arm, probably bruising my already bruised skin. If he had thrown me with any more force, it would have broken. He bows to the man on the throne. The man on the throne has no hair on his head. His arms are big, and well built. His eyes are covered by dark goggles. When the man who dragged me in realizes I'm staring, he pulls me down next to him. Tears sting the back of my eyes.  
"Vaako, let her go." His voice is deep, almost a purr.  
"But, my lord..."  
"NOW!" Vaako jumps away and scampers to his knees at the foot of the throne. "Leave the girl alone. And get out. All of you." Vaako bows again.  
"Yes, milord." He turns to the rest of the people in the room. "You heard The Lord Marshal! Out now!" They leave, closing the huge onyx-colored doors behind them.  
The Lord Marshal walks down the steps of his throne. His footsteps echo through the otherwise silent room, as he circles me. "What's your name?"  
"Well, what's yours, _my lord_?" I retort, mock-bowing to him. It's hard to do while on the floor, but I manage.  
"Riddick. Richard B. Riddick." His voice wavers slightly, so I look up. He's laughing at me! I try not to smile, almost failing.  
"I'm Rina." He reaches his hand down towards me. I take it, and he helps me up. My hand starts tingling, like I'm being shocked. I let go quickly, and he looks at me in shock. He pulls his goggles up onto his forehead casually. "Your eyes..."  
His eyes were grey. No, not grey. Bright reflective silver. Like new metal. "So, Rina, where are you from?"  
"My home planet is Crematoria. I was raised by a man there." I look down, remembering the man who made me so independent. A man who really cared for me. His laughing eyes. "But my mother was Furyan, and my father Zarkanian."  
"You're from Crematoria?"  
Yes, the man who raised me, his name was Sybar. He raised me, keeping me hidden from the other inmates and guards. When I turned fourteen, he helped me escape. I haven't seen him since." I look into this leader's eyes, this man so feared, and see recognition. Not cruelty, or hatred, or anger, or disgust. Just recognition. And a small glint of something...sad. "So, you knew him?"  
"For a while." He cocks his head. "How did you end up on Crematoria? You couldn't have been that bad that early."  
"Are you certain of that, Riddick?"  
"Well then how bad were you?" He looks past me toward the door then back in my eyes.  
"I wasn't...I wasn't sent. I was left there." Shock engulfs his face, before he quickly hides it with a mask of indifference. "My parents dropped me there and disappeared." He holds pity in his eyes. The kind you show a child who lost his favorite toy. "I can take care of myself, I don't need your pity."  
"A girl your age shouldn't be alone."  
"And just how old do you think I am?"  
"About sixteen." Ugh. Here we go again.  
"I'm going to be nineteen in about a month."  
"You don't look like it."  
"Like I haven't heard _that_ before," I mutter as I sit on the steps, wincing in pain.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, just sore."  
"Vaako didn't hurt you did he?"  
"No," I lie. I don't want to cause trouble.  
"You're lying." He sighs, sitting down next to me.  
"Don't worry about it. It's not your problem."  
"Yes it is. You're _here_. He works for _me_. Therefore it's _my_ problem."  
"Yeah? Well, _my_ body, _my_ problem." He looks at me as if he's searching for something. "What?"  
"Nothing." He shakes his head, sighing again.  
"How would The Lord Marshal know a Crematorian prisoner?"  
"I wasn't always Lord Marshal. The Necromonger way is you keep what you kill. I killed the last Lord Marshal. So, here I am."  
"How did you know him?"  
He looks at me, knowing I mean Sybar. "Just before I became Lord Marshal. It's been...a while since I was in Crematoria. I got sent to Crematoria a couple days before," he goes on telling me about how he became Lord Marshal.  
"Wow."  
"What about you, Rina?"  
"I-" Vaako races in.  
"Milord, there is a disturbance outside." He sees me and narrows his eyes. "Get. Away. From. The. Lord Marshal. Now."  
Something inside me snaps and I walk over to him and slap him across the face, hard enough for my hand to become numb. He looks at me in shock, which quickly morphs into anger. He raises a hand, about to hit me. I look at him, silently daring him.  
"Vaako," Riddick says from behind me. "Have one of the women find her a room close to mine. If anyone lays a hand on her, I will deal with them accordingly. Besides, aren't disturbances your specialty?"  
"But, milord-"  
"Do it."  
"Yes, milord." He leaves and I turn to Riddick, looking at him quizzically.  
"I like your attitude. You don't take anything from anybody." I grin at him.


End file.
